A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.

The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' National Football League team plays.

Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.

I presume that he will also have the power to toss thunderbolts at people who don't applaud enthusiastically enough. Or perhaps this is a celebration of a latter-day Plato and his very own Republic.

Whatever. Theatrics may impress for a time. But they don't hide the truth. And to the extent that theatrics evince pretentiousness, no one will miss the message or fail to recognize arrogance when they see it.